Sweets
Tochi Mochi
Tochi Mochi — bitter horse chestnuts leached and pounded with sticky rice
Bitter horse chestnuts are leached of their harsh tannins, then steamed with sticky rice and pounded into mochi. Said to have been eaten in mountain villages with little rice since Jomon times, it carries a distinct astringency and is used as the rice cake for New Year's zoni.
- Origin: Tottori
- About 500 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Tochi-mochi is a rice cake made by removing the strong bitterness of horse chestnuts and pounding them together with mochi rice, resulting in a cake less sticky than ordinary mochi, with a distinctive astringency and mild bitterness. Horse chestnuts, holding one or two nuts inside a thick shell, ripen to a reddish brown in autumn and closely resemble chestnuts in appearance, and they are rich in potassium, copper, manganese, saponin, and tannin.
How it's made
The horse chestnuts are first treated to remove their strong bitterness, then steamed together with mochi rice, pounded, and shaped into rounds. Compared with ordinary mochi, the result is less sticky, carrying the nut's natural astringency and bitterness in a simple, rustic flavor. Added to sweet red bean soup, it also makes a version of oshiruko. Removing the bitterness reportedly takes more than two weeks and considerable skill, so many households today buy nuts that have already been treated rather than doing the work themselves.
Why it took this shape
In mountain villages where little rice could be grown, horse chestnuts are said to have been eaten as far back as the Jomon period, making them a precious food source. Eaten raw, the strong bitterness can leave a sharp, tingling pain on the tongue, but generations of accumulated knowledge are said to have produced the techniques needed to remove it and make the nut edible. Households around Yazu District, Kawahara in Tottori City, and Misasa are reported to still carry on the custom of using this tochi-mochi as the rice cake in their New Year zoni soup.
Before you go
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- At kissaten, cafes, and kanmi-dokoroThe difference between jun-kissa and chain cafes, the morning-set custom, and kanmi-dokoro staples like anmitsu and zenzai.
Dishes in the same style
- Abekawa MochiFresh-pounded rice cake is dusted in soybean flour mixed with sugar. Named for the Abe River, it's said to have been famous among Tokaido travelers as a teahouse specialty and to appear in the travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige.
- Iga ManjuSweet bean paste is wrapped in rice flour dough, then coated with dyed sticky rice grains. One account ties the name to the grains' resemblance to a chestnut's spiny husk, and in the western Mikawa region it's said to be offered to Hina dolls at the Doll Festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Contrast
- Azuki ZouniSoft round rice cakes are added to a broth of simmered red beans, the mainstream style of New Year's zoni in Tottori. Red beans have long been thought to ward off misfortune, and the dish is said to be simmered on New Year's morning with the year's first water and a purified flame, then shared among family.
- OiriLeftover rice is rinsed, sun-dried, then toasted and bound with sweet syrup into small balls, a treat from the old Inaba region. Said to have grown from a habit of not wasting food, it's offered alongside the doll-floating ritual still kept in Tottori City's Mochigase area for the Doll Festival.
Also from Tottori
- Ago ChikuwaChikuwa made from the surimi of flying fish, called "ago" in Tottori. A knife through the firm grilled skin sends up a fragrant crackle, and it turns out darker than ordinary chikuwa. It's a taste of early summer, in season through the fish's spawning run from spring into summer.
- Akagarei no KomaburiRoe-bearing red flounder is sliced into sashimi and tossed with its own boiled, crumbled eggs, a dish from around the Amijiro area of Iwami Town. Said to have descended from a similar dish made with crucian carp roe, it pairs rich eggs with mild, fatty winter flounder for festivals and New Year's.
- Daisen-doriA branded chicken said to be raised end-to-end, from breeding stock to processing, by producers at the foot of Mount Daisen — free-ranged longer than usual on an antibiotic-free feed aimed at balancing fat and flavor.
- Daisen OkowaShiitake, burdock, and chicken are cooked into sticky rice seasoned with soy, a dish from the foot of Mount Daisen. Said to trace back to warrior monks preparing it before battle to pray for victory, it was later served at the horse-and-cattle market by Daisen-ji temple and carried on into festivals and hospitality since.
- Daisen RubyBred at Tottori Prefecture's livestock station by crossing a sow of the oleic-acid-rich Daisen Akabuta line with a Berkshire boar, said to inherit both breeds' fat quality and tenderness.